Destiny Unmasked
by Angelite Phoenix
Summary: A girl befriends Tohru & the Sohma's. Everyone wonders why her last name is Sohma...Has a strange twist to the ending after a long chain of sad events and complications. NOTE: My very first fanfic .
1. Chapter 1: Chained Friendships

Hi, I'm Ally also known as Fruitylicious-Angel. I do not own fruits basket, but I am a major fan of the author's artworks! This is my very first story ever written on fan fiction and I'm so excited. Fruits Basket is my favourite manga, so I hope all of you who love the anime will love this story too. P.S: Written in all sorts of P.O.V (point of views) and I've introduced a brand new character!

Enjoy reading it!

**Chapter 1 Chained Friendships**

It was the start of a brand new term in Kaibara High. Tohru, Hana and Uo chose a table and sat down eating their lunch while chatting. In the middle of their conversation, a girl appeared behind them and asked Tohru for directions.

"Excuse me, can you please tell me where I might find the cafeteria?"

Tohru stared at her, she was very pretty for her age, and she looked like she was in the same year as them not to mention the glossy, caramel, golden, sun bleached hair that shone as it waved in the wind. Her eyes were a cross between chestnut and hazelnut coloured and her height was about 165cm tall. She wore the girl's uniform with a short skirt like Tohru's with a few additional accessories attached to her neck.

"Sure, come with me! Uo, Hana I'll be back in a moment." Tohru replied happily.

Tohru led the girl to the cafeteria, on the way she decided to start a friendly conversation.

"Hi, I'm Tohru Honda from class 2-D, what's your name?"

"I'm Karina Sohma, I'm new here and I think I'm in your class too." said Karina

Tohru lit up knowing that she would make another friend but had her mouth hanging at the fact that Karina's last name was Sohma.

"Do you know Yuki or Kyo?" Tohru asked.

"I don't think I know them." Karina answered.

'Hmm, that's very odd, a person with the same last name as Yuki and Kyo and yet doesn't seem to be related by any chance' thought Tohru as they reached the cafeteria.

"Well, this is where you collect your lunch and when you've got what you need, you can come sit with me and my friends." Tohru suggested.

"Thanks." Karina walked off with her empty tray and waited behind the cue.

Tohru sat back down with Uo and Hana and told them about Karina Sohma.

"Well I have to give her credit, that girl has got serious hair and jewellery." Uo said gulping down a can of cold sugar-free lemonade.

"Yes I agree, her waves feel calm and contented." Hana commented.

Two minutes later Karina arrived and picked a seat next to Tohru.

"Hello Karina let me introduce you to my two best friends, Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima."

"Hi I'm Karina Sohma."

"So I've heard, are you sure you ain't any relation to the prince or orange-top?" Uo asked

"Umm, not that I know of." Karina replied confused.

They finished their lunch and Tohru, Uo and Hana took Karina around the school and gave her a tour in the classrooms and introduced her to other students.

"I have to say, everyone at your school seems so nice." Karina said smiling.

"Well, you never know what their hiding." Uo replied smugly.

"Arisa, I love your blonde hair, is it your natural colour?" Karina brought up a different subject.

"Yea, by the way Karina, ever tried looking in the mirror, your hair is so unique, there's no way that's your natural colour is it?" Uo stated.

"It is my natural hair colour Arisa". Karina admitted feeling happy that someone had complimented her looks and her hair colour.

"By the way, call me Uo."

"Sure."

As they walked into the library someone carrying a load of books crashed into Karina at the doorway.

"I'm sorry, I should have looked where I was going, are you alright?" the boy asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." Karina replied helping him gather the books off the ground.

"Oh, by the way, this is Yuki Sohma, the prince of Kawaiia High school." Tohru explained.

"Hi, I'm Karina Sohma."

Before Yuki could laugh at the prince joke, he was stunned at what he just heard. "Nice to meet you but did you just say that your last name is Sohma?"

"Yes, I think we share the same surname." Karina giggled.

"How unpredictable." muttered Uo.

"Yes, this is the first time I've met anyone with the same last name as me, not that I mind sharing it of course." Yuki smiled warmly.

There was an abrupt silence as everyone tried to find something to say.

"Well, umm, Yuki I guess we will be going. I'll see you after school." said Tohru.

"Sure, I'll walk you home." Yuki made his way out of the library with the handful of books.

'Such pretty coloured eyes 'thought Karina.

"I'm picking up two different signals." said Hana.

"SURPRISE!" yelled Momiji.

"Oh, hello Momiji, you gave me a fright, hello Hatsuharu." Tohru greeted a short blond haired boy and a tall white haired boy standing behind her.

"Who's this?" Momiji asked grinning at Karina.

"This is Karina Sohma, she's new here and Karina, this is Hatsuharu Sohma and Momiji Sohma." Tohru explained happily.

"Hi, pleased to meet you." Momiji and Hatsuharu said in unison.

"You too." answered Karina.

"Wow, you have the same last name as us, we must be related." Momiji said aloud jumping up and down while Haru stood there with a blank expression on his face.

Karina smiled back at them. She was having a great time for her first day, so far she had met so many of Tohru's friends and all of them were nice!

The day finished fast and Tohru decided to walk Karina home dragging Yuki and another boy Kyo with her after introducing Karina to Kyo who appeared to be in the same family as Yuki, Haru and Momiji.

Karina invited them into her apartment home where she served them tea and biscuits.

"Your home really new and spacious." Said Yuki

"Thanks for the compliment." Karina smiled.

"Would you guys like to try my own recipe of rice balls?" asked Karina.

"Oh, yes please. I would love to try them as I love rice balls." Tohru exclaimed.

As Karina went to open the cupboard, her cell-phone suddenly played a melody. She quickly ran to her room and answered the call. A familiar voice came onto the speaker.

"Hello is this Sohma Karina?" the lady asked.

"Yes….." Karina replied nervously.

Whatever came onto the phone next was tragic and in seconds, Karina froze with shock.

Finally finished my first chapter.  
Your welcome to post comments, hope you liked it!

Fruitylicous Angel


	2. Chapter 2: The Haunting Past

Hey Everyone!  
I'm up to writing chapter 2 which is great!

Hope you like this chapter; I've made it more interesting than the first one!

**Chapter 2 The Haunting Past**

Karina stood motionless as the lady spoke.

"I'm afraid to say that your mother isn't recovering, she is in a terrible state and she even has a rare case of strong Alzheimer's resulting in lack of memory and brain damage. If you like, you might want to come visit her sometime soon, we cannot predict how long she has left to live but just to be on the safe side, it would be good if you came here frequently, there is a slight chance that she might develop her memory back but it's very difficult."

"W-w-well when do you think I should come in? Is she eating well, is she going to be okay?" questions came out of her mouth before she could react.

"You may come in tomorrow as her health check-up is due for tonight and we will be able to fill in all the necessary details."

Karina figured that this lady was the receptionist. "Okay, thank you for calling; I'll drop by tomorrow after school in the afternoon."

"Alright, Bye then." The receptionist hung up.

Karina's eyes began to water as she thought of the past that haunted her everyday. Her life was about to crumble just like it had before her mother had the accident.

Just then Tohru walked in with a concerned expression on her face.

"Is everything alright?" She asked.

"Umm-I guess…." Karina forced a smile at Tohru.

"Hey Tohru, I think we better be going, that pervert will probably wonder where we are." Kyo called out from the living room in Karina's apartment.

"Oh, okay. Karina, thank you so much for inviting us over today and the rice balls and tea you made us were delicious." Tohru thanked Karina.

"Your welcome, I'll see you at school tomorrow then. Bye Tohru, Yuki, Kyo." Karina replied still trying to sound happy.

"Bye." Yuki and Kyo waved.

Karina sat down on her bed as she thought of her poor mother not being able to remember anything or anyone in her life; perhaps she had forgotten Karina as well. She had a sudden flashback in her head. The last time she saw her mother was a few months ago when her mother had suffered from a serious accident. She had been left with different guardians after the doctor had told her that her mother was unable to take care of her anymore until she recovered. Hearing this made Karina's heart tear up. The past had caused her so much pain and yet the future continues to do so.

Mean while back at the Sohma estate Shigure's house, Tohru, Yuki and Kyo arrived home with a loud welcome from Shigure.

"Well welcome back you three, what made you come back so late, where have you been, I have been sooo worried." He said with a slight grin hiding behind his 'fake' serious face.

"It's not like it's any of your business." Kyo answered rudely while Yuki just ignored Shigure.

"Oh hello Shigure, we were just visiting a friend. She's new at our school, her names Karina and she's really sweet." Tohru explained.

"Oh I see, another friend huh, I would really like to meet her." Shigure said with interest.

"That's only because you want to meet every single girl in our school you pervert." Kyo pointed out making his way upstairs into his bedroom.

"Oh, how could you say that, accusing me of such manner?" Shigure replied with the same cheeky accent in his voice.

"Whatever." Yuki spoke as he helped Tohru with dinner.

They had stewed leeks for dinner, rice, soup, sashimi and some additional dishes although Kyo wouldn't let the leek subject off.

"Damn rat, how could you even think of cooking leeks today, you know I hate them, they are the nastiest food in the world, and I don't even know how you people survive from just looking at it." Kyo said having one of his temper tantrums.

"Oh, actually it was my idea to cook leeks today; I've heard a lot of people have caught colds this winter so if you don't like it you can try my other dishes." Tohru suggested.

"Even if you cooked it, I'll still blame it on that damn rat!" Kyo shouted.

"Shut up you stupid cat, don't you think you've caused enough noise already." Yuki said.

"I don't care you damn rat." Kyo shot back.

"Yuki, Kyo. As long as you don't break my house or destroy anything everyone will be happy." Shigure interrupted.

As they argued, Tohru was trying to figure out the sadness on Karina's face. 'It was right after that phone call when her face fell suddenly, I didn't know what to do.' thought Tohru.

After dinner Tohru and Yuki washed the dishes and dried them, then switched off the lights and went to bed.

Morning light shone through Karina's window, her alarm beeped wildly. She woke up with a startled feeling realising that today was the day that she'd meet her mother again, except this time her mother would be conscious and different. Although Karina wasn't prepared for the day ahead, she knew she had to deal with her responsibilities knowing that her mother could pass away anytime, anywhere.

The thought of losing her own mother made Karina shiver. She got changed into her uniform and brushed her hair leaving it down for today. She added brown streaks to make it look more interesting, so her hair was honey-blonde caramel as always plus strips of light brown that reminded her of milk chocolate.

She ate her breakfast as she had made herself simple pancakes with some berry yoghurt and a glass of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. Then she cleansed her face, added moisturiser, brushed her teeth, glossed her lips, snatched her bag and headed out the door for school.

On the way to school, Karina enjoyed looking at the scenery. 'It looks way more pleasant here than where I came from.' She thought as she picked a flower and sniffed the wonderful scent.

The cherry blossoms were even starting to bloom as winter began to depart, the sign of spring was obvious and the snow melting just made it clearer although the temperature was still the same freezing and cool fresh air as always.

Karina spotted Kyo at the gates and waved to him.

"Hi Kyo!"

"Hi Karina." He greeted her with a puzzled look on his face.

"I'm not late, am I?" Karina asked worried that she would be late for class.

"Well, not really. It's just our teacher got a phone call before asking for you and I just came out here to pass the message onto you. This lady called from the hospital home and said that she has important news for you and it sounds to me as if it's urgent, I really don't know but if you wanna skip school, I'll just tell the teacher that you can't make it and you have something important to attend." He told Karina.

"Oh, I think I should be going then, thanks for telling me, see you!" Karina fare welled running off to the train station.

She had absolutely no clue what they might've meant by 'urgent' that she had to skip school.

She hoped that it would not be as bad as she thought as pictures of her mother dying came to mind. Karina payed for the train ticket and quickly caught the train to the city she used to live in. It took nearly an hour just to get there as it was very far away to where Tohru, Yuki and Kyo lived which was why she decided to move there so she could have a fresh start and to decrease the painful memories that had confronted her back then.

She exited out the door and took a taxi to the hospital home where her mother had been since the accident. She reached the hospital just in time to spot the receptionist taking out her phone and dialling Karina's number.

"Here I am, so what's going on?" Karina demanded losing her breath from sprinting.

Chapter 2: Been there done that.  
Yay! 2 chapters in 2 days is good enough for me.

Once again, any comments you'd like to post, feel free to do so.  
I would love to hear your support and your comments!

Fruitylicous-Angel


	3. Chapter 3: Reflected Memories

Hi readers,

I'd like to thank all the people that posted comments on my story, its great to hear your opinions. Keep posting reviews!

Now I'm up to chapter 3 so Enjoy Reading!

**Chapter 3 Reflected Memories**

"Come with me." The receptionist said sternly leading Karina through the hospital corridors. She took her up the lift and into a room.

Karina was very nervous, what if her mother had completely forgotten her, she shivered at the thought.

"Your mother, she hates the hospital so much, more than anything she wishes to leave the room that she has been stuck in for nearly 7 months. She has been planning a way to escape from the hospital, the needles and the pain that she has suffered since she came here but she's never succeeded until yesterday after the health check-up the nurse needed to speak to the doctor and within that time, your mother ran away and unfortunately she wasn't strong enough and she slipped near the riverbank next to he hospital. She slipped on the mud and fell into the water hitting some rocks along the way. Our security guard found her 5 minutes later and she had some serious injuries. The doctor is thinking of sending her to a mental hospital because her brain damage is quite bad. She only talks to people that she knows well, so other than me, I think she needs to see you." The receptionist explained shaking her head.

"I-I-I can't believe that happened." Karina replied starting to cry as the receptionist opened the door to reveal her mother in bandages and needles lying on the bed. She could see that her head was bleeding and so was her upper right leg. Karina walked closer and sat on the chair next to the bed looking at her mother in despair. Her mother was unconscious but as Karina waited patiently, she woke up slowly.

"Nagisa, your daughter's here." said the receptionist. Nagisa Hiroshi was her name, it meant seashore in Japanese. Karina always wondered why her mother's last name didn't match hers, not to mention the absence of Karina's father. Karina had never met her father, her mother never spoke of him nor did she ever see her mother wearing a wedding ring. Karina had even searched the whole house for a photo but there was none.

"K-Karina, is that you?" Nagisa asked weakly her eyes still half shut.

"Yes mum, I'm here. How are you feeling?"

Nagisa happened to not hear the question. "I haven't seen you in a long time, I've missed you sweetie. I even came to find you yesterday but then something happened, something stopped me."

"It's okay mum, I miss you too but I'm sure everything's gonna be alright." Karina reassured her mother praying that she herself was right.

Karina held onto her mothers hand tightly. All this time while Karina had stayed with her guardians, had fun and moved to a completely different place, entered Kaibara high and made friends her poor mother had stayed in hospital trying to get out of a miserable nightmare. The disgusting medicine, the painful operations and what's worse, being away from her family, her only daughter. Simply because Nagisa had no siblings, her parents made no contact with her anymore and her husband didn't seem to be around. Karina was her only hope left and now even Karina had moved to another city faraway. 'Mum must've felt so lonely, sad and angry at the same time.' Karina thought in shame. She felt so guilty.

20 minutes later a nurse came in. "Sorry, I don't want to interrupt but the doctor needs to do more checks and umm…visiting hours are over."

"Yes, Karina you can come over some other time okay?" the receptionist looked at Karina.

"Oh well, don't worry mum. I promise I'll come back to visit you soon. Please take care of yourself and don't try running away, you'll be fine." Karina told Nagisa making sure that her mother understood her clearly.

Karina left the hospital and decided to go to the convenience store. She was thirsty and needed something cold to drink. Sometimes it occurred to Karina that she was the mother and Nagisa was the daughter especially after the accident, Karina had to leave the doctors to look after her mother when she would continue her studying. Nagisa still hadn't a clue that Karina had moved to another city.

She finally reached the store and browsed the shop for something nice and refreshing. She chose a sparkling fruit drink, purchased it then left the store wondering what she should do next. Karina thought of her guardians home, how they had kindly taken her in when her mother wasn't able to look after her.

At school, Tohru let out a loud sigh after finishing her exam paper. "I am so glad that winter exams are over, now I can just relax." The bell rang and she sat there day-dreaming until Yuki tapped her on the shoulder.

"Miss Honda, how did you do in the exam?"

"Oh, good thanks Yuki." She replied happily.

"Hey Tohru, aren't you supposed to be at work right now?" Kyo pointed out.

Tohru suddenly jumped up from her seat and packed her bag. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot about work, now I'm going to be late, oh dear!" she exclaimed getting into one of her everyday panics.

"Relax already; it starts in 10 minutes not 1." Kyo said casually.

"Oh but I still have to get changed and prepare." Tohru stammered.

Tohru ran out the door while Uo asked Hana.

"Hey Hana, you seen Karina today at all?"

"No, her waves were never present today, I'm sensing some trouble and uncertainty in her waves, they aren't calm like usual but pretty hyped up." Hana replied doing one of her wave reports.

"That's odd; I wonder what's going on." Uo stated.

Meanwhile still in the other city, Karina had arrived outside her guardian's home, she wanted to see how they were doing and if they had changed or not. She noticed the changes outside of the house, it had been renovated recently. She also noticed the magnificent garden planted in front of the house. It was so pretty and adorable; there was even a mini pond with goldfish in it and tadpoles. It was indeed a beautiful home. Cream-coloured with a tinge of mahogany wood.

Karina knocked on the door and waited; she couldn't wait to see her guardian family. They were so nice not to mention good at cooking and baking. A friendly-faced man opened the door with a surprised but happy expression.

"Karina, what a pleasant surprise!" He greeted her giving her a firm handshake.

"Hi Dad." She replied. Karina had gotten so used to her family that she even called them mum and dad. It felt like home as soon as she stepped into the building.

"Hey Risa, look who's here." He called out to his wife Risa.

A posh looking lady ran down the stairs from the second story.

"Karina! Wow you look gorgeous and it's only been a few months since we last saw you."

"Hi mum, thanks you look gorgeous yourself." Karina replied.

"Come, sit down, and tell us what you've been up to." Risa led her to the living room.

A boy about Karina's age appeared behind a door. Who was he? He looked so familiar but yet so distant.

Thanks for reading chapter 3.

Chapter 4 won't be too faraway!

Fruitylicous-Angel


	4. Chapter 4: Passionate Spring

It feels awesome to be able to publish 3 chapters in less than a week.

And thanks to all your support i.e. People, who gave reviews, read my story and added me to their favourites list! I can start chapter 4. This chapter is a bit different to what I usually write. So grab your snacks, relax and have fun reading chapter 4 in Destiny Unmasked. xxThanksxx

**Chapter 4 Passionate Spring**

Risa turned towards the direction that Karina was looking at.

"Why don't you come down here, you remember Karina right?" Risa called out to the boy behind the door and gestured him to come nearer.

The boy walked towards Karina, his eyed widened.

"Karina? Is that you, wow you look different. In a good way though." He said.

"Umm….you look uhh different too." Karina replied still wondering who he was.

"Have you forgotten Kenji already? He's your best friend!" Risa said.

"Oh, sorry it's just that he looks so different, I couldn't recognize him." Karina said in embarrassment.

Back in college and her first years of high school, her best friend was Kenji who's parents later decided to become Karina's guardian. Feeling so sorry that her mother was stuck in hospital and that she had no idea where her father was, Kenji had managed to persuade his parent's.

But before she even moved in with Kenji's family. She sort of had a fling with him. Since back then, he had treated her like she was his princess; she felt privileged and had a minor crush. That was until he had misunderstood her for sisterly love instead of 'love' love, and to make it worse she had to hurt another guys feelings because he liked her too and he was jealous of Kenji. So she decided to leave that al behind now that she would treat Kenji more like a brother than someone she used to daydream about.

And what's more, Kenji was very popular at his old school for having rich parents, that is, he also had good taste and good looks and good advice for all the people with troubles.  
Karina was use to gazing at his shiny black hair, his dark blue eyes and his smile but now she couldn't really recognize him since he seemed to have dyed his hair a dark brown with streaks, changed his hairstyle and had grown a lot taller.

"So Karina, how did your hair end up so completely fascinating?" Risa interrupted after seconds of what seemed like absurd silence.

"Oh uhh, I washed it with uhh, scented and good shampoo and some good conditioner." Karina replied feeling dumbfounded by what she said.

Little did she know that Kenji also liked her, but they both went different pathways for the same reasons and they didn't even confess their feelings for each other, not once.

After a while, Kenji's parents had persuaded Karina and him to take a walk in the nearby park to get fresh air and to catch up.

"So how've you been, I haven't seen you for so long." Said Kenji.

"I've been fine, I moved into an apartment in a city 45 minutes away from here on train, I'm attending a school called Kaibara high and I've made a lot of friends."

"That sounds great but why did you move so faraway from here and plus you've never actually told me or mum or dad where you live in that new 'city'?" He asked suspiciously.

"Sorry, I've just been busy you know, I just visited my own mum and she isn't doing well in hospital. I'm worried for her and I just decided it would be best if I moved faraway so I could forget the past that's caused me to have nightmares about everyday." Karina explained.

"Aww, come on. I wasn't that bad was I?" Kenji questioned.

"No, it wasn't you, it was….my…parents. Something happened, my mums not telling me, she's hiding something. I've never met my dad, she never speaks of him nor does she keep a photo of him in the house and why the hell is my last name Sohma? It's just, it doesn't seem like she ever chose my name to be Karina. Everything just doesn't fit in and whenever I feel like questioning her, something tells me to back off, either that or she changes the subject completely and it feels like I can't talk communicate with her properly, like she's avoiding some of my questions, you know, I'm just curious. What kind of secret is my mum hiding? So I can't stop thinking about that unless I'm in a new environment and trust me the new environment actually works. My friends over there are so supportive and not to mention friendly! I already miss them, haha." Karina finished off laughing at her own joke.

One of the things that Karina liked about Kenji was how he would listen, and how it made her spill the beans on everything, she could tell him anything but the fact that she like liked him. But this time she didn't realize that Kenji felt a slight discomfort inside.

Karina had already started talking about her new friends like they were the best people she's ever met. Had she forgotten that he had accepted her in college and had she also forgotten that his parents were the ones that took her in?

"So um.. how many new friends have you made?" Kenji asked.

"Oh lets see, there's Tohru, Hana, Uo, Kyo, Yuki, so that's 5. Maybe even Momiji or Haru which might make it 7, I can't believe its 7 new friends. I feel so popular!" Karina replied seeing the look on Kenji's face. He looked hurt.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to exclude you. I was only counting my new friends. Of course you will always be one of my closest and best friends. Don't forget that." She added quickly.

"Umm… thanks." Kenji answered amazed at how she had read his mind instantly.

"So I haven't even asked how you've been."

"Not too bad. Well anyway, want ice-cream?" Kenji changed the subject.

It seemed that Kenji too was hiding a secret. It was just the feeling of anxiety that reached Karina every time they let out a reaction showing instant change. No matter how big the secret was, it still was a secret and Karina wanted to know what was on his mind.

Kenji ran to the ice-cream truck and asked what flavour Karina wanted.

"Strawberries and cream please." Karina chose a peachy coloured ice-cream.

Kenji chose a chocolate and caramel flavoured one and then paid for them both. They sat down at a picnic table and ate their ice-creams.

Karina looked around the park. There were a few dogs playing fetch, people hosting picnics and a man playing his guitar while people gathered round to listen. Karina admired the park, for it was a calm, peaceful and a quiet area to be in. She also spotted the flowers blooming and the ducks on the lake swimming, there were even a few ducklings.

She loved Spring so much she started daydreaming in a trance while Kenji looked at her oddly.

"Hey, are you alright?" He waved a hand in front of her face.

"huh, mm, oh, sorry." Karina awoke from her trance.

"So what were you thinking about?" Kenji asked.

"Well, I was just thinking about how fast winter has gone and how fast spring has arrived, it's kinda scary. It's been a whole year since I left your family. I remember the last time I saw you was spring the previous year."

"Yea time does fly, doesn't it." Kenji agreed.

"So….any thoughts of coming back to stay with us?" he queried.

Before Karina could reply, something caught her eye. A cute young boy stood at a counter selling lemonade for 50 cents. A girl was at the counter purchasing lemonade when a dog ran past her causing her to get a fright. The girl leaned forward and bumped into the young boy.

Throughout the following seconds, Karina stared in disbelief. Something out of the ordinary happened right in front of her eyes.

Find out in chapter 5:  
Cheers!

Fruitylicous-Angel

p.s no matter how many times I change my nickname, fruitylicious-angel is the original.


	5. Chapter 5: Mistaken Illusions

Finally it's time for chapter 5!  
The story is halfway there so enjoy it while it lasts!  
Once again, thank you for posting comments and giving me a lotta encouragement!

**Chapter 5 Mistaken Illusions**

There was a sudden loud noise which sounded like a 'Poof!' which made everyone in the park stare at where the noise came from. Although they couldn't see since there was no one but the girl standing there shocked trying to find the boy. He had suddenly disappeared in everyone else's eyes. But in Karina's view, she noticed the boy had turned into a sheep. The boy or the sheep crawled under the stand, behind the trees and into a corner so he couldn't be seen.

She kept staring without blinking at what her eye's had just seen. It was incredible, who was that boy? She wondered. She saw that Kenji was looking in the opposite direction; she quickly tugged on his sleeve.

"Did you see that?" She asked him.

"No, I only heard this funny noise but I didn't see anything. Why do you ask?" He replied.

"Oh umm… nothing." Karina answered thinking that he wouldn't believe her anyway.

"Okay, hey listen, I should visit your city sometime, I really wanna see if it's a cool place or not. If it's as good as you say, then it's worth coming to have a look." Kenji said excitedly.

"Sure, whatever, uhh thanks for the ice-cream but I gotta go. Please say sorry to your parent's for me, I know I haven't exactly stayed long. I have a reason though. So see ya." Karina ran off, trying to remember which direction the boy ran off in.

"Wait…" Kenji protested but Karina didn't hear him. Her mind was focused on finding that young boy at the lemonade stand.

It took a few minutes till Karina reached the spot where the boy had hidden. She saw a white patch behind the bushes. "The sheep!" She said under her breath. After 2 seconds there was another loud 'Poof!' The white patch had disappeared and in front of her was a boy; she could only see the head as his body was behind the thick branches.

The boy's face was just as surprised as Karina's face.

"How…how did you do that?" Karina stammered.

"Hey, will you give me some clothes first; it's really uncomfortable here, oh and by the way; don't you dare let anybody know I'm here." He whispered rudely.

Karina forgot his threatening voice and ran behind the drink stand to find his clothes, then ran back and gave them back to him.

"Finally, that girl at the stand is so clumsy; geez if it means this happening to me again then I find it pointless to open another lemonade store." He said to himself.

The boy grabbed Karina's hand and took her into an alleyway where nobody was seen nor heard. She looked back; Kenji was still looking for her. She felt a little bad to have just left him there with no reason whatsoever.

"So I'm Karina Sohma, who are you." Karina spoke under her breath.

"Hiro Soh-. What did you just say?" He asked in an accusing tone.

"My name is Karina Sohma, get it?" Karina replied losing her patience.

"Sohma huh.. are you stalking me, do you think this is funny or something?"

Karina was speechless. "I have no idea what you're on about." Karina answered coldly.

Then she saw the folder that he held in his hand. The label had read 'Hiro Sohma'. Karina gasped. 'Kyo, Yuki, Haru, Momiji and now this guy Hiro?' she thought.

"Do you know Yuki, Kyo, Haru or Momiji Sohma, do you happen to be related?" She asked ignoring the fact that he was staring at her suspiciously.

"So what if I did? Who are you?" He asked yet again.

"I've told you. My names Karina Sohma and no I'm not fooling around about my last name. I come from a school called Kaibara High. I'm friends with Tohru, Yuki, Kyo…"

"Hold it right there, are you saying you're part of this curse too?" He interrupted.

"What curse? And wait, you haven't even told me why you just suddenly changed into a small white baa baa sheep back there." Karina continued to argue.

"I am not a baa baa sheep F.Y.I."

"Ok, so this curse, what's up with that?" She asked again.

"If you really know Yuki or Kyo or even that over-excited freaky girl Tohru, why don't you go ask them yourself huh? I ain't telling you anything." Hiro smirked.

"You sure have a sense sarcasm for your age." Karina muttered.

Hiro didn't seem to have heard her as he had suddenly changed his expression from cheeky to innocent. A cute girl appeared behind him.

"Kisa? What are you doing here?" Hiro asked the girl.

"Hiro, I was going to ask you the same thing. I came looking for you. You said you were going to be at the lemonade stand but you weren't there so…"

"Sorry Kisa, I had a few troubles. This Karina girl saw me transform. Her last name's Sohma and she says that she knows Tohru, Kyo and Yuki." Hiro explained to the girl Kisa.

"Is that true?" Kisa asked looking at Karina.

"Yea, it is." Karina admitted.

"I'm Kisa Sohma, the tiger of the zodiac."

"Uhh, Karina Sohma, what do you mean by the tiger of the zodiac?" Karina questioned.

"Uhh Kisa, I haven't told her about the curse yet." Hiro cut in.

"Oh, well if she saw you transform then shouldn't we tell her?" Said Kisa a bit confused.

"We'll let Shigure tell her."

"Oh ok then." Kisa listened to Hiro as he dragged her off out of the alleyway.

"Hey you Karina, we're leaving. Don't bother us okay?" Hiro said to Karina.

"Whatever. Nice to meet you Kisa." She ignored Hiro.

"Nice to meet you too. Bye!" Kisa waved.

Karina sighed deeply. She still couldn't believe what had happened today. The drama had caused her to be extremely tired. She took the train back to her apartment and noticed Tohru, Yuki and Kyo walking on the way.

"Tohru, Yuki, Kyo, Hi!" Karina ran towards them.

"Hello Karina, how is your mother?" Tohru questioned.

"Well. She's actually in a bad condition. But there is something I need to ask you three."

"What is it?" Said Kyo

"What's the curse of the 12 zodiac animals?" Karina said eager to hear their answer.

All of a sudden their faces had froze at the same time and finally Yuki spoke up.

"How-how did you know?"

Karina explained her meeting with Hiro and Kisa and how she saw him change into a sheep.

"I think we should just tell her." Kyo suggested.

"Okay, Karina. Every time we hug somebody from the opposite gender, or when our bodies come under a great deal of stress. We transform into the 12 animals of the zodiac. I'm the rat, Kyo here he's the cat that was left out and there's more in our family." Yuki said looking away

Karina was amazed at what she had heard. She was glad that they had confessed their secret but she was unsure if all of it was true or not.

"If you could just keep this between us, it would be good. Nobody knows of the secret apart from a few of us, like me and maybe even you now." Tohru told Karina.

"Ok, I promise I won't tell anyone. I'll keep the secret to myself but if it's okay, I need to see something for myself." Karina said looking around and checking if anybody was around.

"Sorry." She apologised.

Then Kaori leapt forward and hugged Yuki and Kyo together.

Awesome! Chapter 5 is complete and now Chapter 6 will show something really interesting so stay tuned for CHAPTER 6 in Destiny Unmasked.

Fruitylicious-Angel!

Aka-Mystic Forest


	6. Chapter 6: Desolated Freedom

HEY!

I'd like to thank the people that have posted recent comments on my story.

Sorry if I'm lingering on about how Karina's related to the Sohmas but I've got a lot to write before I reveal that so all I can say is keep reading, hope you find chapter 6 interesting!

**Chapter 6 Desolated Freedom**

Yuki and Kyo waited for the sound, they closed their eyes for a few seconds. Then they opened their eyes and stared in amazement. They were still human; they hadn't changed into their zodiac form. Could it be that they had been freed from the curse? Tohru and Karina looked at them oddly.

"Kyo! Yuki! You didn't transform!" Tohru exclaimed wildly.

"We didn't, I don't know why though…" Yuki said still wondering what had just happened.

Kyo was still speechless while Tohru ran around excitedly shouting "You're free!"

"Uhh…. There isn't such thing as a curse is there; you guys were trying to trick me." Karina said coldly in a tone that meant she was serious and confused at the same time.

Kyo walked towards Tohru and hugged her to makes sure that he wasn't dreaming. 'Poof!' Kyo transformed into the orange cat that he had always been. Yuki, Tohru and Karina looked at Kyo. They couldn't understand why they didn't transform when Karina had hugged them.

"Why?….oh darn it I knew this was just a stupid lame joke." Kyo said staring at the floor.

"How..how…" said Yuki, his head hurting from thinking too much.

"I don't know. The curse isn't broken after all…and yet I thought…" Tohru walked off sadly.

"Okay, this is getting confusing. How about we just get back and I'll test this on Momiji and Haru tomorrow if it makes you happy." Karina spoke quietly.

Karina hugged Yuki and Kyo one last time noticing that they didn't transform.

"This is totally weird. I'm just going to go home and I'll see you tomorrow and I promise I won't tell a soul about your so called secret."

Half an hour later Tohru, Kyo and Yuki went straight home and Tohru told Shigure about the incident that involved transforming and non transforming.

"Well that is strange, could it be…." Shigure thought aloud.

"Could it be what?" Tohru asked eager to hear.

"A cure, hmmmm, there is a possibility we might have a cure for our curse. I might need to have a meeting with Hatori and maybe Akito too."

"Are you mad? Even if Karina is a cure if you tell Akito, he'd get rid of her, you know how much Akito enjoys watching us suffer from the damn curse. He'd never want a cure, he'd keep us as servants for as long as he desires, there's no way your telling Akito." Kyo interrupted.

"I'm afraid theres no choice." Shigure replied.

"Shigure, why don't you just keep this quiet for now, who knows? Maybe tomorrow something will change." Yuki told him.

"Fine. But you three better know what you're doing." Shigure pointed out.

This was the first time Tohru had ever seen Shigure so serious. Could a cure for the curse be that life-threatening? She really thought it would've been a good thing to most people especially ones with the curse on them. She still wondered how Kureno managed to get his curse pulled off him suddenly but then again he doesn't have much freedom in life since he swore to Akito that he would stay by his side.

Back at Karina's apartment, she realised that her phone had a message left on it. She checked the message.

"Karina, this is Stella Cyrwood, receptionist from your mother's hospital. The hospital, something's happened. I need you to call a doctor to your house immediately. I'll meet you soon. Don't leave the house!" The receptionist said sounding very panicked.

Karina's heart lurched in fright. She quickly rang the doctor and called him to her house. While within those minutes of waiting for the doctor's arrival, she heard a loud knock on her door. She opened it finding the receptionist and a security guard with her mother lying unconscious before her eyes. She gave a short scream as she saw the state that they were in.

"What happened?" She asked angrily.

The receptionist and the guard let themselves in and placed Nagisa on the couch ignoring Karina's question.

"Have you called the doctor?" Stella asked firmly.

Then the doorbell rang and Karina ran to get it. The doctor had arrived and Karina gestured to her unconscious mother.

While the doctor tried to work his magic on Nagisa, the receptionist Stella told Karina what had happened.

"It was so frightening. We were running some tests for your mother when the hospital caught on fire. The alarm went off, it was a humongous fire. Everyone was evacuating the patients and I took your mother with me. Unfortunately she breathed in some smoke and fell unconscious although she was still alive. So I took her with me and the guard carried her here. We had to take a taxi.." Stella said looking away.

"Oh my god." Karina said looking at her mother blinking back hard tears.

"But there is something your mother wanted to tell you, I'm afraid she won't be here long enough. So I think I should confess."

"Confess what?" Karina demanded.

"You're adopted." The receptionist said bravely without hesitation.

Karina felt like there was no one in the room but her. She felt as if she was alone.

"You're joking…. You're mad." Karina replied pretending she hadn't heard her.

"Karina I'm serious, and I'm going to tell you everything so don't interrupt me! When you were little, your adoptive mother Nagisa found you and a note at her doorstep. The note is right here in my pocket as your mother wanted to give it to you when you were older but I suppose right now is the only time we can do this, so here." Stella handed Karina a piece of yellow crinkled paper.

It read 'This is Karina Sohma, please take care of her, we don't want this baby."

Tears starting falling out of Karina's eyes continuously.

"No…they…how-how could somebody do this to me?" She asked herself.

"I'm sorry. Your original parents didn't want you. Nagisa chose to adopt you when she saw that the parent's lacked responsibility. Nagisa was never married, she didn't want to say this to you too soon so she pretended that your dad had left. Your real parent's are unknown, all I can say is your real mother was a drug addict and your real father was a businessman who's previous wife died a long time ago. Yes it was a messed up family but if you want to find them, good luck with that." She finished.

Karina couldn't handle all the information that just popped up in her head.

Then she saw her mother twitch and she sprinted towards her side calling Nagisa's name loudly.

"Karina…." Nagisa said suddenly full of energy. Her mother looked as if she had just woken up from a scary dream.

"Yes mum?" Karina said.

"Y-you-your...I love you and you're a w-w-onderful daughter..." Nagisa whispered.

In seconds her mother had blacked out and Karina had been trying to gain her consciousness but it was impossible. Her mother had gone.

Yes, I know: chapter 6 is very very tragic.

Well just F.Y.I things will lighten up, although the mystery continues.

Fruitylicious-Angel


	7. Chapter 7: Emerging Light

Hopefully this chapter will be a little more cheerful.

Thx for the reviews. Much appreciated.

So... on with the story

**Chapter 7 Emerging Light**

Taken aback by what had happened, a week passed slowly and Karina missed school since her adoptive mother Nagisa lost her life breathing in too much smoke during the fire at the hospital. The receptionist, security guard and doctor had gone home after such drama. Tohru and her friends had even visited Karina, bringing her gifts and cheer up cards.

The funeral was arranged to be on Sunday. Karina had invited her friends, Kenji and his family and a few friends of Nagisa's. Everybody wore black and placed flowers by Nagisa's coffin and many people sobbed. Now most people knew that Karina was adopted, she felt a bit better as they would support her.

At a point, Karina had even thought of selling her apartment so she could go back to live with Kenji and his parent's but she knew that she couldn't depend on them forever and that it would be too much to ask for since they had paid for the funeral and her school fees. Plus she didn't want to leave her new friends just when she might be the key to curing the Sohma curse.

"Karina, even though your mum isn't here anymore remember that you've still got us around. We're here for you." Risa said trying to make Karina less sad with Kenji and his dad standing behind her looking gloomy.

"Thanks, after mum died, it suddenly hit me. You are the only family I have left." Karina replied feeling a little queasy.

"Karina, you'll be fine, you always get through tough situations and you'll do it this time too. But if you ever feel you need someone to talk to, I'm right here." Kenji stated hoping that it would motivate her a little. Karina smiled back at him and he gave her a comforting hug.

There was a time when Karina would wish there was someone to guide her so she wouldn't have to make choices that she would regret later in life.

After the funeral, Tohru had persuaded Karina to come back to school. While Kyo offered her to take martial arts lessons with him and his master for fun, Yuki had asked Karina if she wanted to go to the cinema together in the weekend to relax. Karina agreed happily to all their offers and suggestions as spending time with her best friends will make her forget her worries.

So over the next few days, Karina went to school and did some re-tests as she missed the exams. She also saw Haru and Momiji and told them about how she might be the cure to the curse while Momiji listened carefully and Haru stood there with yet another blank expression on his face. They didn't even transform when she hugged them which made them believe what she had to say.

Once she had gotten her results back, she passed with flying colours. Her life was starting to lighten up a bit. Kenji's mother even took Karina to the beauty parlour to get their facials done, pedicure, manicure and even a dreamy session at the spa and the sauna.

Wednesday afternoon was her first martial arts lesson, she walked with Kyo to his master's house and they did some basic easy training for the day. Of course she enjoyed it a lot. Kyo was teaching her which was a bit of a laugh because of his constant attitude change, one minute he was raising his temper at the other people who were training and the other minute, he was full on concentrated and the next he was smiling.

A man with greyish blackish hair appeared behind Kyo.

"Hello son." He said.

Kyo turned around and smiled. "Master!"

"Who is this may I ask?" He questioned looking at Karina.

"This is Karina Sohma a friend from school." Kyo introduced her to his dad/master.

Kyo's master had a funny expression on his face when she mentioned the name but then quickly changed it.

"Hello, I'm Kazuma Sohma, I'm Kyo's dad and his master. Nice to meet you and Kyo, I'm glad that you're making more friends."

Kyo continued training with Karina while Kazuma made some phonecalls.

"So he's your dad huh?" Karina asked.

"Well yea, he actually adopted me but he is the best dad I could ever get and to make it better he was the one who taught me everything I needed to know about martial arts!" Kyo explained.

"You-you were adopted too?" Karina stuttered.

"Yup." Said Kyo although he sounded proud to say it.

'Perhaps I should be proud too' Karina thought. She still wondered who her real parents were, where they were, and why they ever came up with an idea of abandoning her. Little did she know that her question was about to be answered in less than an hour.

Kazuma then came out again and called Kyo inside for a private conversation.

5 minutes late Kyo came out with a saddened look on his face.

"Kyo, are you okay. What happened?" Karina was concerned.

"Uhh, actually my master…. He knows who your real parents are." He said slowly.

Karina stood motionless at the thought of 'real' parents.

"What?"

"Just go inside. I uhh… think you better discuss it with my master….no wait, I'll come with you." He said, for some reason Kyo looked like he was nervous or shivering with fear. Whatever it was, Karina knew it couldn't be good news, or could it?

She walked towards the entrance of the house with Kyo, and then stepped in slowly.

Kazuma was sitting on a chair with the same expression as Kyo.

"T-take a seat, make yourself comfortable, the thing you're about to hear may not be the most pleasant." He explained putting on a fake smile.

"Okay, you might as well want to tell me now, trust me I've had a lot of experiences the recent weeks and if you tell me now then I can get it over and done with." Karina said trying to sound brave when actually her insides were weak with sickness.

Her hands started sweating and her legs started to shake as Kazuma told her about her 'real parent's'

Cool! the story is near to its conclusion.

Keep visiting this site for chapter 8 will be here very soon.

Fruitylicious-Angel


	8. Chapter 8: Secrets Never Lie

New chapter alert! This chapter will explain the whole basic idea of Destiny Unmasked 'sobb' the series is getting nearer to the word finished. I hope you'll like this chapter!  
Thank you readers for your lovely reviews! Read on……..

**Chapter 8 Secrets Never Lie**

They could hear the cold wind whistling its way into the house, the rain that only started pouring just as Kazuma spoke and they noticed the slight darkening in the room as clouds began to clash together forming a grey foggy mist.

"I might as well say the most important part first. Kyo, would you like to tell Karina what's going on and how you are related in the family tree."

Kyo looked at Karina with a hopeful expression. "You're my sister." He said quietly.

Karina sat still without a single movement, the words repeated in her head.

"Why? How?" She stammered starting to shake again.

"When Kyo was little, his mother committed suicide for a strange reason which left Kyo's father in despair, of course he abandoned him and blamed Kyo for his mother's death which was ridiculous, so I adopted Kyo and raised him as my own son. But before that even happened, around the time when Kyo was 3 months old, his father had an affair. One day he went on a business trip and left his wife and his girlfriend behind for a few months. When he came back, his girlfriend Nara got pregnant and she was due for delivery very soon. Kyo's father rejected the baby but Nara still went against it. She had a baby girl a while later. That baby was you." Kazuma explained with a tone of grief.

Karina started to have vivid images in her head.

"Kyo's father soon found out that Nara had the baby and she had named it Karina Sohma after the dad hoping that he would still take the baby, but he didn't want it and he realised that what he had done was a big mistake, if Kyo's mother found out that he betrayed her, things would go bad for his wife and his son (back then he didn't know his son would transform into a monster as Kyo was a baby.) He left Nara to fend for herself and Nara went through a big depression disorder resulting on her becoming a drug addict and giving up Karina and leaving her outside someone's house praying that they would accept the baby. And they did, and that person was your adoptive mother would huhumm…. passed away recently. Nobody knows what happened to Nara and if she is still alive." Kazuma continued.

"How did you find this out?" Karina asked making no eye contact.

"Well, the only person that ever knew that this happened was me, when I met you I recognised your name, it felt familiar and I phoned your dad Kyo and umm your dad too Karina."

Kyo and Karina was silent, mute, and they felt as if their lips were glued together so they couldn't speak nor open their mouths.

"I'm sorry, this is supposed to be your first martial arts lesson and I guess I've turned it into a history class: the past about Karina but since now you know that you two are half siblings. I suggest you should be happy. You carry the same bloodline and share a bond. Karina, Kyo you are family." Kazuma said trying to cheer them up a bit.

"It's also your choice if you want to tell anyone or not but as for me, I'll keep this quiet." He added exiting the room.

"Thank you for telling me… I never thought I would get to know what happened to my real parents but now that I know, I don't like the sound of them." Karina said to Kyo.

"Yea……So sister, do you want to stay for dinner cos I think my master's ordering take-out." Kyo said bluntly.

"Sure. I haven't eaten take-out in a long time." Karina answered managing a small smile.

"Well, you don't seem as shocked as I thought you'd be." Kyo pointed out.

"No… I was shocked but the happiness of having you as a step brother filled in all the empty spaces and when I really thought about it, I don't feel too bad." Karina told Kyo.

"I guess so… I've never had a sibling but I think that it won't be too bad."

Karina gave Kyo a hug and realised that they had forgotten all about the curse.

"I almost forgot, am I an animal from the zodiac cos I mean…I do have your blood and I am a Sohma family member and…. You don't transform when I hug you."

"That's true but I don't think you're one of the animals, you can at least hug other people without transforming and plus all the animals are taken… well kinda." He said remembering Kureno and how his curse was freed.

"But I think it's because you're my sister that you can hug all of us without us having to turn into animals." Kyo mentioned.

"Well can I tell Tohru and Yuki?" Karina asked.

"Go tell them, I don't care especially if it's that damn rat." He replied shrugging it off.

Kazuma, Kyo and Karina sat down to eat their take-out meal. It kind of felt good. 'Any family of Kyo's is mine.' Karina thought happily. While Karina ate with pride, Kyo wasn't so confident. He was thinking about what would happen if he told Shigure or if Shigure told Akito. What would happen to Karina, would it be the same thing that happened to Tohru?"

"So Karina, I hear you have another family that takes care of you." Kazuma spoke up.

"Yes, they live in the central area of Kyoto. It's pretty faraway, 1 hour on train but I can handle it. Their really nice people, they took care of me while my adoptive mother was in hospital."

"Karina, if it's not rude to ask, how did you mother end up in hospital?" Kazuma questioned interested in hearing about Karina's life.

"She had a fall off a motorcycle...it was so scary." She said preferring not to describe it in detail.

"Oh that's terrible. Umm why don't we just try to forget the past, as we need to move on with our lives and let go of bad memories." Kazuma said in a psychiatric tone.

"Good idea, I'm sick of having to think of stupid things." Kyo said grumpily.

After Dinner, Kyo had taken Karina home, then he had gone back to the Shigure's house.

"Kyo!" A girl came running out wildly.

It was Kagura.

"Let go of me, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I was at Shishou's house (Kazuma's house) and I was going to greet you when I saw another girl in there, who is she, are you doing something behind my back. Huh?" She asked with her temper rising madly. She started to hit Kyo.

"No! She's my sister!" Kyo blurted out.

Kagura stopped the hitting and looked at Kyo surprised.

"You….what did you just say?" Shigure popped out of nowhere with Tohru and Yuki behind him. He happened to hear as Kyo's voice can be heard a mile away.

"Oh great, now everyone's here." Kyo commented.

"Spill." Said Kagura half stunned.

"Fine! But I'm only saying it once." Kyo answered rudely.

He explained from head to toe about how Karina ended up being his half sister.

"Oh dear, that is big news but Kyo I think it's also great news! Congratulations." Tohru congratulated Kyo.

"My, my what is this? Why didn't you tell us sooner, we could've hosted a party to celebrate." Said Shigure considering the idea.

"Cos I just found out today you damn dog!" Kyo shouted.

Yuki stayed silent. 'Karina and Kyo? Siblings? Is it true?' he asked himself in his head.

The Night ended as everyone fell asleep. Kagura went home although she wasn't convinced that Kyo really had a sister. Tohru was happy for Kyo as he wouldn't be so lonely, he would have family close to him and Yuki was still speechless. Karina had a peaceful sleep amazingly after all the chaos during the day but she was ready for yet another day of school tomorrow.

Whilst the others slept like normal people, Shigure spent the night dreaming about a party. The guests were Ayame, Hatori (the mabudachi trio!) Kyo, Tohru, Yuki, maybe even Karina, Kagura (he wanted to tease Kyo) Kisa, Hiro, Haru, Momiji, perhaps Rin, Kureno, maybe Ritsu (as long as he doesn't go into his panic sessions) and if he had to, then he'd invite Akito.

 A happy ending, well kind of;

Chapter 8: COMPLETE

Fruitylicious-Angel


	9. SEQUEL PUBLISHED

A/N: Okay, I've finally published my sequel to Destiny Unmasked.

Here's the info on it.

**Don't Forget Me**

**Rated: K+ - T Genre: Romance/Drama**

THANKS


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